This invention relates to a watercraft ramp and more particularly to a shoreline dock in the nature of a ramp of relatively short length compared to the watercraft capable of being docked on it and of relatively low elevation capable of receiving the bow end of a watercraft while the watercraft is buoyantly floating.
Personal watercraft of the type for people to ride in a manner analogous to riding a motorcycle have become exceedingly popular. They not only give the person or persons riding the watercraft the supreme thrill of speed and power, but also can be the workhorse for towing water skiers. The appeal of personal watercraft is so strong that people will ride them on impulse or at the spur of the moment. Between periods of use, however, the personal watercraft should be stored out of the water with as little fuss as possible and launched at will and with great ease for the unlimited fun of using the watercraft.
Heretofore insofar as is known, non-lift ramps for out-of-the water docking and storage of watercraft have suffered from such problems as (i) non-portability caused by a permanent post or concrete anchoring, or (ii) an entry or water end that defies convenient watercraft bow movement onto the ramp while the watercraft itself is still buoyantly supported in the water, or (iii) an entry or water end that requires elevation of the bow with tilting of the watercraft beyond a comfortable buoyancy support in order to initiate movement onto the ramp, or (iv) an entry or water end that always requires a considerable length of ramp to extend out into and under the water in order to facilitate movement of the watercraft onto the ramp using the natural buoyancy of the craft, or (v) a shore or land end that suffers from relatively easy torsional twists or is unnecessarily heavy or is otherwise not user friendly, or (vi) a shore or land end that is considerably longer than actually needed for watercraft support and that fails to utilize a winch mounting in a way to reduce such length.
In short, the problem with known docking ramps is that they lack simple and uncomplicated and lazy or minimal-physical-effort features for fast and effective personal watercraft use, including easy portability and easy docking, storage, and launching at will.
The new watercraft docking and launching ramp of this invention is astonishingly simple and strong and yet easily portable. It has an extremely low profile compared to known ramps. The water end of the ramp is designed to rest in earth supported condition on the water side of a shoreline, and the shore end or opposite end of the ramp is designed to rest on dry land of a shore up from the shore line.
The watercraft-supporting assembly of the ramp comprises a pair of rails braced in parallel spaced relationship and equipped with hull-supporting roller wheels. Ideally, the rails are U-shaped and have upstanding side walls on each side of a floor; and the roller wheels are mounted within the U-shape and extend above it. The ramp (and in particular the rails of it) is generally of relatively short length in comparison to the length of watercraft capable of being docked or received on it.
At the water end is a support assembly for the rails that causes minimal elevation for the water end. This support assembly has a transverse footprint brace extending between the rails at a location proximate to the water end so as to support the rails and maintain their spaced relationship at the water end. A keel roller may be mounted at a central location on the footprint brace.
The shore end support assembly also is such as to cause minimal elevation for the shore end of the ramp. This assembly has a transverse footprint stabilizer bar of a transverse length greater than the distance between the rails of the watercraft-supporting assembly. The rails at the shore end can be and desirably are mounted to the footprint stabilizer bar through stub elevational means such as stub pillars or stub blocks so as to obviate irregular or rocky shore problems.
A loading assembly has a winch support beam that is mounted to the stabilizer bar in such a way as to upwardly cantilever in an outward direction from (i.e., beyond) the shore end of the rails at an angle that is more toward being parallel to the rails than perpendicular to the rails. Ideally, the winch support beam is braced against lateral or torsional movement by a pair of brace arms mounted in opposing relationship to the winch support beam and then fanning out therefrom as they extend over the stabilizer bar to lateral mounting locations on the watercraft-supporting assembly.
Many details of the aforenoted features contribute to the overall strength and lightness in weight and portability of the ramp. To be especially noted, however, is that, while the several assemblies as afore-recited may be permanently mounted together, by far the preferred approach is to employ removable mounting as by bolting the several parts of the ramp together. A significant advantage of the new teaching is that the components or parts forming the ramp assemblies of the invention can be conveniently packaged, economically handled, and economically and quickly shipped to any destination for final assembly and use.
Still other benefits and advantages for the various features of the invention will be evident as this description proceeds.